Insider Selling: Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$56.10, for a total value of C$84,150.00.

Douglas Bigler Nathanson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 20th, Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 400 shares of Empire stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$54.94, for a total value of C$21,976.00.
• On Friday, June 20th, Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 600 shares of Empire stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$54.91, for a total transaction of C$32,946.00.

Empire Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of TSE EMP.A traded down C$0.48 during trading on Tuesday, hitting C$55.61. 127,796 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 469,274. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business's fifty day moving average is C$53.43 and its 200 day moving average is C$48.32. The firm has a market capitalization of C$7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire Company Limited has a fifty-two week low of C$35.79 and a fifty-two week high of C$57.10.

Empire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is an increase from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Empire's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EMP.A shares. National Bankshares increased their target price on Empire from C$53.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. CIBC raised their price objective on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Friday, June 20th. Desjardins raised their price objective on Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Empire from C$49.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$57.43.

About Empire

Empire Co Ltd key businesses are food retailing, investments, and other operations. The food retailing division operates through Empire's subsidiary Sobeys and represents nearly all of the company's income. This segment owns, affiliates, or franchises more than 1,500 stores in 10 provinces, under retail banners including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Lawton's Drug Stores, and multiple retail fuel locations.